by Meghan

Monday, Jun 2, 2014 at 5:41 PM EST

When you think of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (aka Nanny Bloomberg), you probably don’t think defender of free speech. But during his 2014 commencement address at Harvard University, Bloomberg not only defended each and every individual’s right to free speech, he excoriated the American university system for a growing and disturbing trend of silencing non-liberal view points.

While you probably won’t agree with everything Bloomberg says in the 24-minute speech – he couldn’t help but tout his work to curb gun violence via stricter laws – you have to respect his willingness to speak so definitively about the intolerant culture at far too many universities and colleges… during his speech at Harvard University’s commencement.

Below is an excerpt from the speech:

Repressing free expression is a natural human weakness, and it is up to us to fight it at every turn. Intolerance of ideas — whether liberal or conservative — is antithetical to individual rights and free societies, and it is no less antithetical to great universities and first-rate scholarship.

There is an idea floating around college campuses — including here at Harvard — that scholars should be funded only if their work conforms to a particular view of justice.

There’s a word for that idea: censorship. And it is just a modern-day form of McCarthyism.

[…]

A university cannot be great if its faculty is politically homogenous. A liberal arts education must not be an education in the art of liberalism.

The role of universities is not to promote an ideology. It is to provide scholars and students with a neutral forum for researching and debating issues — without tipping the scales in one direction, or repressing unpopular views.

This spring, it has been disturbing to see a number of college commencement speakers withdraw or have their invitations rescinded after protests from students and — to me, shockingly — from senior faculty and administrators who should know better.

It happened at Brandeis, Haverford, Rutgers and Smith. Last year, it happened at Swarthmore and Johns Hopkins.

In each case, liberals silenced a voice — and denied an honorary degree — to individuals they deemed politically objectionable. That is an outrage and we must not let it continue.

[…]

For tenured faculty to silence speakers whose views they disagree with is the height of hypocrisy, especially when these protests happen in the Northeast — a bastion of self-professed liberal tolerance.

A university’s obligation is not to teach students what to think but to teach students how to think. And that requires listening to the other side, weighing arguments without prejudging them, and determining whether the other side might actually make some fair points.

If the faculty fails to do this, then it is the responsibility of the administration and governing body to step in and make it a priority. If they do not, if students graduate with ears and minds closed, the university has failed both the student and society.

Watch the full address below:

Front page image courtesy of the AP

Deckard426

Harvard only invited Bloomberg to speak because Bashar Al-Assad, Robert Mugabe, and Paul Kagame were busy.

Anonymous

Bloomberg spoke at my graduating class’s commencement. Bloomberg inspired me as an engineer and aspiring businessman then as he does as a free thinker now.

Elena

What did they do with the real Mike Bloomberg?

James Sizemore

that IS the real mike bloomberg, dummy. people who have an IQ greater than their shoe size NEVER fit comfortably into the “conservative” and “liberal” boxes of American politics.

Tantalus XVI

If you think Bloomberg is an “Independent” I have a gold ham sandwich for sale.

Anonymous

Congratulations to Mr. Bloomburg for speaking out about a disturbing PC trend taking place in academia.

There is light in everyone and sometimes it shines at the right moment. Its held back when to much trust is put in the arm of man. We have to celebrate it even when a little truth is acknowledged but call it what it is when left to mans understanding. Agency is a gift that most often has to be taught!

Anonymous

The guy who banned super size and table salt?

Lyle Goodson

I do not like his use of the term “McCarthyism” because McCarthy was proven right. McCarthy uncovered more spies than most people care to remember (Liberals anyway). How can outing lies and spies be a bad thing? Other than that I basically agree with him.